Screw-driver attachment.



E. J. DOUGLAS.

SCREW DRIVER ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILE-D JULY 26, 1909.

951,526., Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

, ELIVIER J. DOUGLAS, OF*SOUTH ALBANY, VERMONT.

SCREW-DRIVER ATTACHMENT.

cameo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 26, 1909.

Patented llllar. a. relic.

Serial No. 509,637. 3

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER J. DOUGLAS, a citizen of the United States,residing at South'Albany, in the county of Orleans and State of Vermont,have invented a new and useful Screw-Driver Attachment,of which thefollowing is a specification.

The objects of the invention are, generally, the provision in amerchantable form, of a device of the above mentioned class, which shallbe inexpensive to manufacture, facile in operation, and devoid ofcomplicated parts; specifically, the provision of resilient arms adaptedto be assembled with a screwdriver to engage a screw to hold the sameagainst the bit of a screw-driver; novel means being provided wherebythe arms may be assembled, sli'dably, with the" shank of thescrew-driver; other and further objects being made manifest hereinafteras the description of the invention progresses.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement ofpartsphereinafter fully described, delineated in the accompanyingdrawings, and particularly pointed out in that portion of thisinstrument wherein patentable novelty is claimed for certain distinctiveand peculiar features of the device, it being understood, that,

within the scope of what hereinafter thus is claimed, divers changes inthe form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may bemade, without departing from the spirit-or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding partsthroughout the several figures of the drawin s, in which:

igure 1 shows my invention in side elevation, parts being broken awaybetter to illustrate the structure, and a screw being held in contactwith the bit of the screw-driver by the device of my invention. Fig. 2is a transverse section on the line AB of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an endelevation of the device, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the lower end ofthe device showing the construction of the jaws adapted for use inholding screws having conical heads. Y

In carrying out my invention, I provide primarily, a shank 1 provided atits upper extremity with a handle 2 and at its lower extremity with abit 3. Slidably mounted upon the shank 1 intermediate the handle 2 andthe bit 3 is a tube 4. I further provide a pair of resilient arms 6adapted to be mounted upon either side of the tube l longitudinallythereof, the upper extremities 7 of the arms being rigidly assembled bysoldering or otherwise, with the upper end of the tube 4. The lowerextremities of the arms 6 are inbent towardeach other, as denoted by thenumeral 8 and the extremities of these inbent portions are notched, asdenoted by the numeral 9. The lower end of the tube 4: is provided witha head 5 having oppositely disposed, parallel faces 16 toreceivethe-intermediate portions of the arms 6. The arms-6 are fulcrumed upontheseflat faces 16, and the head is provided with-inwardly projectingfingers 11 adapted to engage the arms 6 and to hold them in place uponthe flat faces 16. Owing to the manner in which the device is operated,sufficient space is allowed to intervene the fingers 11 and the faces 16so that the arms 6 may have a slight play therebetween. The portions 12of the arms 6, which are located between the head 5 and the upperextremity of the tube 4 are oppositely convexed to space the portions 12of the arms from the tube 4c upon which they are mounted.

Inclosing the shank 1 between the-bit '3 and the head 5 is a helicalcompression spring 14, the lower end of which bears against thelaterally extending bit 3, the upper extremity of the spring bearingagainst the head 5 and against the lower extremity of the tube 4: whichextends through it. Slidably mounted upon the arms 6 between the head 5and the inbent ends 8, is an annular keeper 15.

In practical operation, the portions 12 of the arms 6 are seized andpressed toward the tube 4:, whereby the inbent ends 8 of the arms willbe spaced apart. The tubular member 4 may then be slid downward alongthe shank 1, to position the inbent ends 8 of the arms below the lowerextremity of the bit 3. When the hand is removed from the extremity ofthe bit 3 engaging the kerf in the screw-head. The screw may then berotated to place and when the head of the screw engages the materialinto wh ch the I claim as new and desire to screw is being driven, thenotches 9 will move free from the screw permitting the latter to bedriven full length into the material. The resiliency of the arms 6 willautomatically hold them in contact with the screw, but-if desired, thekeeper 15 may be slid downwardly along the arms to augment their gripupon the screw.

It will be observed that the jaws of the device as illustrated in Figs.1, 2 and 3 are adapted principally for holding or gripplng screws havingrounded head, and in Fig. 4 of the drawings there is illustrated aslight modification of the structure shown in the other three figures inwhich Fig. 4 the jaws 6 are adapted to grip a screw havmg a conicalhead, the gripping terminals of the jaws or arms having the same generalcontour as the exterior surfaces of the screw head to be gripped.

Having thus described my invention what protect by Letters Patent is 1.A device of the class described comprising a shank provided with a bit;a tubular member slidably mounted upon the shank; resilient arms rigidlymounted at one end upon the tube and at their other ends inbent towardeach other and notched 1n the extremities of their inbent portions, theintermediate portions of the arms being fulcrumed upon the tube, thearms being spaced from the tube between their fulcrum points and theirpoints of rigid attachment to the tube; and a compression springinclosing the shank and having terminal abutment against the bit andagainst the tube.

2. A device of the class described comprising a shank provided with abit; a tubular member slidably mounted upon the shank; resilient armsrigidly mounted at one end upon the tube and at their other ends inbenttoward each other and notched in the extremities of their inbentportions; a head rigidly assembled with the tube, the intermediateportions of the arms being fulcrumed upon the head, the head beingprovided with inwardly extending fingers to engage the arms, the armsbeing spaced from the tube between the head and their points of rigidattachment to the tube; and a compression spring inclosing the shank andhaving terminal abutment against the bit and against thehead.

3. A device of the class described comprising a shank provided with abit; a tubular member slidably mounted upon the shank and provided atits lower extremity with a head; resilient arms rigidly mounted at theirupper ends upon the upper. end of the tube, and at their lower endsinbent toward each other and notched in the extremities of their inbentportions; the intermediate portions of the arms being fulcrumed upon thehead, the head being provided with inwardly projecting fingers to engagethe arms, the arms being spaced from the tube between the head and theupper end thereof; a compression spring inclosing the shank and havingterminal abutment against the bit and against the head; and an annularkeeper slidably mounted upon the arms intermediate the head and theinbent portions of the arms.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELMER J. DOUGLAS.

Witnesses:

WILLARD F. AMES, ELWIN L. GRAVES.

